Vaccination Roll-Out Update

As of Tuesday, 95% of the eligible population aged 12 years old and above have had a first dose of Pfizer.  Of those people, 92% have also had their second dose.

When can you get your booster?

• The required gap between the second dose and booster was shortened from 6 months to 4 months.
• You can either go to a walk-in vaccination centre from 5 January or book in via Book My Vaccine.  Slots will be available from 17 January.
• You can also call COVID-19 Vaccination Healthline on 0800 28 29 26 (8am to 8pm, seven days a week) if you can’t book online.

As of Wednesday, 594,947 boosters had been administered.  This is a long way short of the approximately 1.5 million people who are now eligible.  This is partly because boosters are not bookable until next week. So expect an increase in vaccination rates from next week.

NZ- Cook Islands Travel Bubble to Reopen

Quarantine-free travel between New Zealand and Cook Islands will resume on Friday, five months since the Cook Islands government barred all tourist flights due to the Delta outbreak in Auckland.

Travellers must be fully vaccinated and will have to take a COVID-19 test no more than 72 hours before departing.

NZ Records Smallest Working-Age Population Gain Since 2012

New Zealand posted the smallest increase in its working-age population in nine years last year, adding signs of a labour shortage that could drive up inflation and wages.

The number of individuals 15 years old and above who could work increased by 26,500 to slightly more than 4.1 million in 2021, according to Statistics New Zealand.  This is the smallest gain since 2012 and compares to a 70,500 increase in 2020.

As borders have been closed to foreigners since March 2020, and labour shortages have begun to stoke wages and fuel faster inflation, the Reserve Bank has started to lift interest rates.

Travel Rules for 2022

The government has announced changes in travel rules to continue to prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Some of the key changes include:

• The phased border reopening will be delayed to the end of February to give more New Zealanders the chance to receive a booster dose.
• All stays in MIQ are extended to 10 days instead of 7 days followed by the requirement to self-isolate at home for 3 days after leaving MIQ.
• Currently, there are no countries classified as very high risk.
• From 7 January, all travellers entering New Zealand will need to provide a negative pre-departure test 48 hours before travelling, instead of 72 hours.

More information can be found here.

Support available to you

Work and Income has a Find COVID-19 Support tool to help you find the support options you’re eligible for.

Get in touch

Contact us if you have any questions or want to discuss the next steps for your business.

The post Weekly Digest – 14 January 2022 appeared first on Universal Content Master.